JimsAstronomy: April 2012

Sunday, April 29, 2012

What happened in science in 2011?

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--------- #1466 - A Lifetime of Science. 4 decades 1930 to 2011
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- #1464 3 decades 1960 to 1990
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- #1465 Science in 2 decades 1990 to 2010
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- #1466 Science last year in 2011.
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- 2011 - 9.0 earthquake and tsunami kills 15,000 people and creates worst nuclear disaster since Chernobyl.
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- Sediment cores in North Carolina reveal sea levels began rising in the late 19 century.
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- Rising temperatures result in 3.8 % less corn and 5.5% less wheat produced.
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- Data stored digitally rose from 0.8% in 1986 to 94% in 2007. 25% of world’s computing power is in video games. 6% of the world’s computing is in cell phones.
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- Amoebas contaminate drinking water systems around the world.
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- Some of the Universe’s first stars may still be shining in the Milky Way. They are 13.4 billion years old.
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- Life related chemicals are found in a dozen meteorites. Building blocks for DNA may have been delivered to Earth.
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- The last NASA Space shuttle is launched.
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- The sunspot cycle that began in 2008 will be the weakest in 200 years..
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- Over 1,000 exoplanets have been found orbiting other stars.
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- The Fermi National Accelerator Lab Tevatron shuts down.
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- Jupiter’s moon Europa has pockets of liquid water locked in the rock hard ice.
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- Astronomers studying the Cosmic Microwave Background data confirm the existence of Dark Energy.
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- Neutrinos travel 60 nanoseconds faster than the speed of light. The experiment results are heavily disputed.
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- The Earth is enriched in two types of oxygen and one of nitrogen not present in the Sun.
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- Supernova emits ultraviolet light with no trace of hydrogen.
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- Gravity Prove B satellite experiment confirms “ frame dragging” as predicted by the Theory of Relativity.
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- Chemist have synthesized a pain-relieving extract called conolidine from the bark of a tropical shrub.
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- Antibiotics and vaccines helped shape the evolution of a nasty strain of pneumonia causing bacteria.
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- Studies suggest the ecologically valuable predatory fish re rapidly disappearing.
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- Research uncovers a rapid rise in weeds immune to multiple herbicides.
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- Antarctic ozone hole recovers more than a decade earlier than expected.
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- The bacteria that causes ulcers and stomach cancer, Helicobacter pylori , may trigger Parkinson’s disease.
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- Cells in a tadpole’s gut manipulated to take on specific electrical properties develop into an eye.
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- The quantum particle’s wave function is directly measured in the lab.
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- The hydrogen atom is directly imaged
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- Cell phone on the ear for 50 minutes causes brain activity that is detected.
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- Blood vessels grown using human cells prove to work as natural tissue vessels in baboons and dogs. Could be used for kidney dialysis or heart bypass surgery.
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- DNA analysis on polar bears traces ancestry to a female brown bear in Ireland. Separation occurred 20,000 to 50,000 years ago.
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- Orangutans in Borneo dine on stranded fish jabbing them with sticks.
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- Brown bats get white-nose-syndrome with exposed to fungus Geomyces destructans.
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- The left and right halves of the brain store information separately which is why you can only remember a handful of objects at one time.
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- The high pitched ringing that drives tinnitus sufferers crazy is a by-product of the brain turning up the volume to cope with subtle hearing loss.
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- A cougar took a 2,000 mile journey from the Black Hills of South Dakota to the green lawns of southern New England.
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- Swaths of aspens wiped out across the western United States is cause by disease carrying deer mice.
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- The last common ancestor of all living animals arose 800,000,000 years ago.
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- Sensors can produce enough electrical charge when flexed mechanically to transmit a wireless signal. Sensors could get power form trucks rumbling over a bridge.
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- A new way to send radio waves into spirals could let multiple radio stations broadcast at the same frequency.
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- Researchers spin hi-tech material into superfine nanowire 1,000 meters long.
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- Precious metals mined today were delivered via a bombardment of stony meteorites.
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- Ice melting off Greenland and Antarctica has made the Earth’s equator bulge.
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- The occasional swapping of the north and south magnetic poles tied to Earth’s plate tectonics.
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- Fossils dating to 530,000,000 years ago suggest the Earth’s first animals colonized fresh water earlier than thought.
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- Geologist find evidence of the biggest volcanic eruptions ever in southern Java that date back 21,000,000 years ago.
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- Skeletal traits in the proposed hominid species Astralopithecus sediba suggest that the species served as an evolutionary bridge from apelike ancestors to homo genus.
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- Higher test scores are achieved by high school and college students that write down test-related worries before the exam. This seems to dislodge some concerns so they can perform better.
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- Studying chimps prove that human ability to discern personality traits via facial structure may have evolved more than 7,000,000 years ago.
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RSVP, please reply with a number to rate this review: #1- learned something new. #2 - Didn’t read it. #3- very interesting. #4- Send another review #___ from the index. #5- Keep em coming. #6- I forwarded copies to some friends. #7- Don‘t send me these anymore! #8- I am forwarding you some questions? Index is available with email and with requested reviews at http://jdetrick.blogspot.com/ Please send feedback, corrections, or recommended improvements to: jamesdetrick@comcast.net.
or, use: “Jim Detrick” www.facebook.com, or , www.twitter.com.
707-536-3272, Sunday, April 29, 2012

2 decades of science 1990 to 2010?

--------- #1463 - A Lifetime of Science. 3 decades 1930 5 1960.
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- #1464 3 decades 1960 to 1990
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- #1465 Science in 2 decades 1990 to 2010
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- #1466 Science last year in 2011.
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- 1990 - Hubble Space Telescope launched
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- 1991 - Stomach ulcers are linked to being caused by a bacteria, H. Pylori
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- 1992 - The belief that adult mammal’s brain cells can not reproduce is dispelled. Science discovers that a protein could prompt mature nerve cells in mice to divide.
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- 1993 - Massive Compact Halo Objects were discovered at the outskirts of the Milky Way. Called MACHOs that were thought to be the missing matter in the Universe. ( Today WIMPs are the more likely candidates for Dark Matter, Weakly Interactive Massive Particles.)
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- Science cloned the first human embryos. This opens a book of ethical concerns.
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- 1994 - Astronomers show evidence of the existence of a Blackhole at the center of the Milky Way.
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- A pair of genes were found to play a role in inherited breast cancer.
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- 1995 - Government panel on Climate Change finds evidence of human influence. they warn that humans must put the brakes on releasing carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases.
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- 1996 - Carbon isotopes dating of Greenland rocks put the history of life on Earth starting 3,850,000,000 years ago.
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- Dolly the sheep is first mammal cloned from DNA.
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- 1997 - Kyoto Protocol treaty for addressing Global Warming.
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- Human embryonic stem cells have the potential to become nerves, blood, or any other tissue.
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- Quantum behavior harnessed to transfer one photon’s polarization rate to a remote proton. Verifying “ action at a distance”.
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- 1998 - Astronomers have data indicating the expansion of the Universe is picking up speed.
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- 1999 - Genetic studies confirm that AIDS virus originated in chimps living in central Africa.
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- A drug specifically targets chronic myelogenous leukemia cells, named Gleevec.
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- 2000 - Mars Global Surveyor spacecraft finds water on the surface.
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- Physics discovers the Tau Neutrino, the heaviest electron.
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- 2001 - Genetic blue prints expected o find 100,000 genes but found only 33,000.
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- Physics gets light pulses to stand still without destroying the photons.
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- 2002 - A fossil skull of human ancestral species is dated at 6,000,000 years.
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- Astronomers put the age of the Universe at 13,500,000,000 years.
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- Researchers find genes that contain instructions to make RNA rather than proteins.
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- 2003 - The SARS deadly viral pneumonia emerged in China ( Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome).
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- 2004 - A small human species lived on an Indonesian island as late as 18,000 years ago, called hobbits on the island Flores.
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- 2005 - physics creates a Quark - Gluon plasma that is a liquid , not a gas as was expected as the primordial matter of the young Universe.
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- 2006 - Astronomers demote Pluto to a Dwarf Planet.
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- Astronomers report direct evidence for the existence of Dark matter in space.
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- 2007 - Biologists turn human skin cells into stem cells, with out embryos.
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- 2008 - A Mars lander confirms the presence of water on Mars.
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- 2009 - A protein is found to slice RNA into regulatory molecules called Micro RNAs. The protein is used as a tumor suppressor.
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- 2010 - The biggest oil spill in the US dumps oil into the Gulf of Mexico for 5 months.
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- Genetic sequencing of Neanderthal remains links to prehistoric interbreeding of human species.
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RSVP, please reply with a number to rate this review: #1- learned something new. #2 - Didn’t read it. #3- very interesting. #4- Send another review #___ from the index. #5- Keep em coming. #6- I forwarded copies to some friends. #7- Don‘t send me these anymore! #8- I am forwarding you some questions? Index is available with email and with requested reviews at http://jdetrick.blogspot.com/ Please send feedback, corrections, or recommended improvements to: jamesdetrick@comcast.net.
or, use: “Jim Detrick” www.facebook.com, or , www.twitter.com.
707-536-3272, Sunday, April 29, 2012

Saturday, April 28, 2012

Science from 1970 to 1990?

--------- #1463 - A Lifetime of Science. 3 decades 1930 5 1960.

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- #1464 3 decades 1960 to 1990
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- #1465 Science in 2 decades 1990 to 2010
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- #1466 Science last year in 2011.
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- 1970 - Electron microscope sees the atom
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- 1971 - Genetic information transplanted to correct genetic deficiency.
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- DDT pesticides are banned.
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- Mariner 9 orbits Mars.
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- 1972 - Nerve cells discovered to have sodium ion channels that gate electrical pulses.
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- Cygnus X-1 detected to have a Blackhole.
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- 1973 - Tomography used in cross sectional X-ray imaging.
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- First synthesized gene.
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- 1974 - Discovery the chlorofluorocarbons destroy stratospheric ozone.
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- J/psi particle discovered for existence of charmed quark.
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- 1975 - Restrictions placed on genetic engineering.
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- Lucy - 3,000,000 year old skeleton found in East Africa.
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- Jennifer is born.
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- 1977 - Fermi lab discovers the bottom quark.
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- In vitro baby born in England.
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- Koko, a talking gorilla has a sign language of 375 words, beats me.
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- 1979 - 3- mile island nuclear power plant accidents releases radiation.
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- 1980 - Mount Saint Helens volcano erupts.
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- Toxic shock syndrome linked to bacteria in tampons.
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- 1981 - NASA satellite detects depletion in stratospheric ozone.
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- AIDS breaks out among homosexual men. (Kaposis sarcoma and Pheumocystis pneumonia = AIDS ).
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- 1982 - RNA is an enzyme to trigger protein synthesis.
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- First permanent artificial heart implanted in a human.
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- 1983 - Astronomers detect accretion disk around the star Vega.
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- 1984 - Astronomers detect a Brown Dwarf to big to be a planet and too small to be a star.
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- 1985 - Genetically modified bacteria used as anti-frost for strawberries and tumor resistance for tobacco plants.
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- 1986 - Chernobyl nuclear power plant in Ukraine explodes in a meltdown.
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- Space Shuttle Challenger explodes killing 7 astronauts.
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- 1987 - Ozone destroying chlorofluorocarbons becomes outlawed.
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- Grains of shocked quartz crystals provide evidence of asteroid impact 65,000,000 yeare ago causing mass extinctions
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- 1988 - nothing happened
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- 1989 - Exxon Valdez dumps 11,000,000 gallons of crude oil in Prince William Sound.
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- 1990 - Hubble Space Telescope launched.
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RSVP, please reply with a number to rate this review: #1- learned something new. #2 - Didn’t read it. #3- very interesting. #4- Send another review #___ from the index. #5- Keep em coming. #6- I forwarded copies to some friends. #7- Don‘t send me these anymore! #8- I am forwarding you some questions? Index is available with email and with requested reviews at http://jdetrick.blogspot.com/ Please send feedback, corrections, or recommended improvements to: jamesdetrick@comcast.net.
or, use: “Jim Detrick” www.facebook.com, or , www.twitter.com.
707-536-3272, Saturday, April 28, 2012

Friday, April 27, 2012

A lifetime olf science?

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--------- #1463 - A Lifetime of Science. 3 decades 1930 to 1960.
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- #1464 3 decades 1960 to 1990
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- #1465 Science in 2 decades 1990 to 2010
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- #1466 Science last year in 2011.
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- 1930 Pluto was discovered.
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- Vitamin C was discovered, huxuronic acid.
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- 1931 Heavy hydrogen was discovered, deuterium.
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- Mayan glyphs were deciphered.
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- 1932 the neutron was discovered in particle physics.
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- Anti-matter was discovered, the anti-electron, called the positron.
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- 1933 Radio astronomy was first invented.
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- Defibrillation was first used, a strong electric shock used to restore heartbeats
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- 1934 radioactivity created by bombarding boron with helium nuclei, called alpha particles.
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- Acetycholine discovered to control muscle movements.
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- 1935 alpha and beta electrical waves discovered in the brain.
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- 1936 Sulfanilamides, antibiotics, to fight streptococcus infections.
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- 1937 Muon, heavy electrons, discovered in Cosmic Ray bombardments in the upper atmosphere.
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- 1938 Nylon was invented to be a synthetic “ silk”.
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- The Sun power source discovered to be hydrogen fusing into helium.
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- 1939 Germany first split uranium atoms releasing energy.
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- Fluorine added to drinking water to reduce cavities.
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- 1940 radar proposed for airplane navigation.
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- Lascaux, France, discover of 30,000 year old prehistoric art.
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- 1941 Carbon 14 decay used for dating 20,000 year old objects. I was born.
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- 1942 University of Chicago produces self-sustaining nuclear chain reaction.
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- 1943 Epidural nerve blocks used in child birth.
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- 1944 DDT proved toxic to humans.
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- 1945 2 nuclear bombs dropped on Japan ending WWII.
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- 1946 ENIAC, University of Pennsylvania developed the first digital computer.
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- 1947 chemicals in mice cause mutations.
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- Atomic clocks are accurate to 1 millionth of a second.
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- Transistor shown to replace vacuum tubes in Bell Labs.
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- 1948 Photosynthesis defined by science.
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- 1949 DNA discovered in genes
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- 1950 antibiotic aureomycin boosts growth of livestock.
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- 1951 Polio virus used to vaccinate mice.
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- Cholesterol in diet linked to atherosclerosis in blood vessels.
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- 1952 I hit a ground rule double in little league.
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- 1953 DNA double helix structure discovered.
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- 1954 Chlorpromazine used to sedate mental patients.
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- Neutrinos detected in particle physics.
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- 1955 smoking harms the heart.
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- subatomic particles detected in bubble chambers.
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- 1956 Steroids discovered to block cholesterol formation.
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- 1957 Conservation of parity broken for left-handed and right-handed subatomic particles.
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- Sputnik 1 and Sputnik 2 with astronaut dog.
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- 1958 Explorer 1 is United States first satellite.
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- Explorer 3 discovers high radiation levels above 660 miles altitude.
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- Diabetes discovered Type 1 when little insulin is made by the body and Type 2 when the body does not use its insulin well.
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- 1959 Virus’s discovered to hijack cell’s ability for reproduction.
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- Oldest human skull discovered in East Africa.
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RSVP, please reply with a number to rate this review: #1- learned something new. #2 - Didn’t read it. #3- very interesting. #4- Send another review #___ from the index. #5- Keep em coming. #6- I forwarded copies to some friends. #7- Don‘t send me these anymore! #8- I am forwarding you some questions? Index is available with email and with requested reviews at http://jdetrick.blogspot.com/ Please send feedback, corrections, or recommended improvements to: jamesdetrick@comcast.net.
or, use: “Jim Detrick” www.facebook.com, or , www.twitter.com.
707-536-3272, Friday, April 27, 2012

Sunday, April 22, 2012

Long term the car is cheaper? PUZZLE

--------- #1462 - PUZZLE: The car repair problems
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- Puzzle for week 17, there is a sequence of numbers with one number missing:
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--------------------- 1, x, 2, 4, 7, 11, 16, 22, …………………
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- What is “ x” the number that is missing?
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-- Answer = ?
- If you need help find the answer to this equation, find x: (square root x) ^ x-1 = x
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- - Answer one, x = ? - -------------- - Answer two , x = ?
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- The first answer helps you with the first problem and the second answer helps you with the following problem:

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- Doug, Dave and Matt took their cars in for service on Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday. One of their cars was red. The black car was not the one to get the oil change. On Monday one of the cars got new tires. Dave’s car was worked on before the car whose lights were repaired, but after the silver car. Matt’s car was not black.
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- What was the color of each guy’s car, and who got what done when?
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- Answer = ?
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- Let me know when you are ready for me to send you the answers:

Thursday, April 19, 2012

Fun with a circle.

--------- #1461 - The angles inside a semi-circle
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- Draw a circle.
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- Draw a quadrilateral inside the circle. A 4 sided figure as 4 straight lines each terminating at the circumference of the circle. Label 3 of the sides, 2 inches, 3 inches and 4 inches. Now calculate the length of the 4^th side.
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- Answer = ?
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RSVP, please reply with a number to rate this review: #1- learned something new. #2 - Didn’t read it. #3- very interesting. #4- Send another review #___ from the index. #5- Keep em coming. #6- I forwarded copies to some friends. #7- Don‘t send me these anymore! #8- I am forwarding you some questions? Index is available with email and with requested reviews at http://jdetrick.blogspot.com/ Please send feedback, corrections, or recommended improvements to: jamesdetrick@comcast.net.
or, use: “Jim Detrick” www.facebook.com, or , www.twitter.com.
707-536-3272, Thursday, April 19, 2012

Tuesday, April 17, 2012

Puzzle from 1770 German Textbook

--------- #1460 - 1770 poker game puzzle
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- It was May 7, 1770 ,3 guys on work break decided to play 3 hands of Poker. It was Doug’s birthday. Dave, Doug and Brenan ante’ up and Dave lost the fist hand losing the same amount as Doug and Brenan had before the game started.
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- Ante’ up, for the second hand Doug loses to Dave and Brenan as much as they had before the hand started.
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-Ante’ up, for the last hand Brennan loses to Dave and Doug as much money as they had before the hand started.
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- Break time ends and each walk away with $24.
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- Who was the winner? How much did each have before the game started?
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- I will email the solution anytime you are ready:
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- This puzzle appeared in a German textbook in 1770. In that year the average life expectancy was to age 32. Here are some of the things happening that year: The Hydraulic sewing machine was invented. Halley discovered the proper motion of stars, later had a comet named after him. Herschel discovered the planet Uranus and later discovered moons orbiting Uranus. the World’s population was 600,000,000, less than twice the U.S. population today. Newton proposed that light was tiny bundles of energy. Mitchell did the math for magnetic induction. Cavendish accurately measures the Gravitational Constant, “ G” , where: Force of Gravity = G * M*m / r^2. Kant proposes that the Sun and the planets came form condensed gas clouds in space. Cook used the transit of Venus across the Sun to calculate the size of the Solar System.
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RSVP, please reply with a number to rate this review: #1- learned something new. #2 - Didn’t read it. #3- very interesting. #4- Send another review #___ from the index. #5- Keep em coming. #6- I forwarded copies to some friends. #7- Don‘t send me these anymore! #8- I am forwarding you some questions? Index is available with email and with requested reviews at http://jdetrick.blogspot.com/ Please send feedback, corrections, or recommended improvements to: jamesdetrick@comcast.net.
or, use: “Jim Detrick” www.facebook.com, or , www.twitter.com.
707-536-3272, Tuesday, April 17, 2012

Saturday, April 14, 2012

Use Modular Math to find the day of the week.

--------- #1459 - Modular Math to find the day of the week.
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- A FACT in algebra is that the digits of any multiple of 9 must sum to a multiple of 9.
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------------------------- 2 * 9 = 18 , ------------ 1 + 8 = 9
------------------------- 3 * 9 = 27 , ------------ 2 + 7 = 9
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- Using this fact can result in many interesting behaviors in algebra which contains numbers that are multiples of 9 and the calendar which contains multiples of 7
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------------------------ 1,234 = 1 * (1 + 999) + 2 * ( 1 + 99) + 3 * ( 1 + 9) + 4
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------------------------ Sunday, Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday repeat themselves every 7 days.
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- This is called modular arithmetic or clock arithmetic in which numbers can be thought of as wrapping around in a circle. Because the days of the week wrap around with 7 the modular math can calculate any day of the week in history.
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- To illustrate modular math. Pick any number?
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------------------------------- 4
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----------------------------Triple it = 4 * 3 = 12
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--------------------------- Add 6 to the result = 6 + 12 = 18
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-------------------------- Triple that result = 3 * 18 = 54
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-------------------------- Add the digits in your answer = 5 + 4 = 9
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- You will always get the number 9, Why?
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- It is simple algebra: Pick any number?
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------------------------------- x
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----------------------------Triple it = 3 * x
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--------------------------- Add 6 to the result = 3*x + 6
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-------------------------- Triple that result = 3 * (3x + 6) = 9x + 18
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-------------------------- This is 9 * (x + 2)
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- By tripling any number twice you are guaranteed to get a multiple of 9.
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- FACT: If a number s a multiple of 9 its digits will sum to a multiple of 9
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- FACT: A number is divisible by 9 if and only if the sum of its digits is a multiple of 9.
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- FACT: A number is divisible by 3 if and only its digits add to a multiple of 3.
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- FACT: If you take any number and scramble its digits then subtract the original number for the scrambled number you will get a multiple of 9.
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---------------------------- Take the number 1,234
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------------------------------ Add up the digits and you get 10, 9 + 1 = one more than a multiple of 9
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------------------------ 1,234 = 1 * 1000 + 2 * 100 + 3 * 10 + 4
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------------------------- 1,234 = 1 * (1 + 999) + 2 * ( 1 + 99) + 3 * ( 1 +9) + 4
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- All of these terms are multiples of 9 and you are left with 1 + 2 + 3 + 4 = 10
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----------------------------- 10 = 9 + 1
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---------------------------- Therefore 1,234 is 1 greater than a multiple of 9.
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- OK, how does this modular math work with a calendar. A calendar works with a multiple of 7.
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- We have to have a starting point. The year 1900 is zero, 0. The days of the week are:
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-------------------- Sunday = 1
-------------------- Monday = 2
------------------- Tuesday = 3
------------------- Wednesday = 4
-------------------- Thursday = 5
--------------------- Friday = 6
--------------------- Saturday = 7 or 0
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- Next we need the months of the year. This can be memorized as (12^2) + (5^2) + (6^ 2) + (12^2 +2) which is put in tabular form like this:
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------January = 1 ------ April = 0 ------- July = 0 ------ October = 1
------February = 4 ------ May = 2 ------- August = 3 ---- November = 4
------March = 4 ------- June = 5 ----- September = 6 --- December = 6
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- The code for the year starts with 1900 = 0, also 2007 = 0. OK smarty what day of the week was March 19, 1961?
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------------------ 1961 = 1900 + 61
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---------------- There are 15 leap years in 61 years, ( 4* 15 = 60)
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- There are 365 days in a year so each year the day of the week advances one year. If your birthday is on Monday this year it will be on Tuesday next year. That is because as a multiple of 7, 7 * 54 = 364, 365 is one more shift is a day. Unless it is a leap year than 366 is 2 more shifts in days.
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- Ok, back to March 19, 1961
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- We had 15 leap years so we need to add 15 to the 61 , 15 + 61 = 76
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- So 76 is the year code for 1961, but since we are working in multiples of 7 we simply this by working with 6 + (7*10) and just work with the code number 6 for 1961.
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--------------- Now back to our table, March = 4
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-------------- Year + month + day = 6 + 4 + 19 = 29
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-------------- 29 = 1 + (7 * 4)
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---------------- The number for the day of the week is 1 which is Sunday.
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- March 19, 1961 was a Sunday. Check it out.
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-How about Doug’s birthday May 7, 2012
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------------------------ 2007 = 0
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-------------------------2012 = 5 + 1 leap year
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----------------------- May = 4
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------------------------ Day = 7
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----------------------- 6 + 4 + 7 = 15 = 1 + (7*2)
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--------------- 1 is left after all the multiples of 7
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----------------- 1 is a Monday.
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- Doug’s birthday is Monday, Dave, better buy him a present. No charge for the math lesson. I had good teachers. Next year we will celebrate on a Tuesday. Take the number 1,618. Scramble the digits to 8,611. Now subtract the numbers 8,611 - 1,618 = 6,993. Add these digits. 6 + 9 + 9 + 3 = 27. Add these digits. You will always get a 9. It is modular arithmetic.
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RSVP, please reply with a number to rate this review: #1- learned something new. #2 - Didn’t read it. #3- very interesting. #4- Send another review #___ from the index. #5- Keep em coming. #6- I forwarded copies to some friends. #7- Don‘t send me these anymore! #8- I am forwarding you some questions? Index is available with email and with requested reviews at http://jdetrick.blogspot.com/ Please send feedback, corrections, or recommended improvements to: jamesdetrick@comcast.net.
or, use: “Jim Detrick” www.facebook.com, or , www.twitter.com.
707-536-3272, Saturday, April 14, 2012

Wednesday, April 11, 2012

How astronomy helps society?

--------- #1458 - Astronomy helps society.

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- I like astronomy because it teaches me so many things. What we learn with our curiosity about the Cosmos directly helps our society. Did you know astronomy had a part in developing the GPS system, in WiFi Wireless systems, in cancer therapy, in eye laser surgery?
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- It all started a long time ago with the creation of clocks and calendars based on astronomy. Today precision timing has created the Global Navigation System that can locate a spot on Earth to within several inches. This all started with Albert Einstein’s attempts to understand gravity. His theories of warped space-time were verified by astronomers measuring the deflection of starlight as it passed by the rim of the Sun during a solar eclipse.
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- Massive objects stretch the rate oat which time passes. The closer you are to an object with mass the slower time ticks. Time slows down. If you lived at the peak of Mount Everest your day would be 30 millionths of a second shorter than a day at sea level.
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- To measure these smallest of time intervals physicists invented atomic clocks. The cesium atomic clock was designed to test the Theory of Relativity. It had resolution down to a billionth of a second. Atomic clocks on airplanes flew east and west around the globe. The theory’s calculations were that the clocks would differ from ground-based clocks by a few hundred nanoseconds. When the clocks landed the difference was exactly according to the calculations
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- 1978 was the first GPS satellite launch. Today we have 30 satellites in operation. Without correcting for Einstein’s time-altering effects due to speed and altitudes the system accuracies would be off by miles, instead of accurate to within inches.
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- WiFi uses a Fast Fourier Transform (FFT) chip to pull out low-power signals out of a smeared out distorted signal The chip is part of a $80,000,000,000 industry today but it started with the search for Blackholes.
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- In 1974 Stephen Hawking published his theory that Blackholes emit particles and loose mass. That Blackholes that will not allow light to leave somehow still evaporate. But, before they disappear, they explode in a burst of energy.
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- Astronomers calculated that there should be a specific signal of radio waves associated with each Blackhole death explosion. This faint radio signal would be difficult to tease out of the noise that astronomers received. John O’Sullivan invented the FFT using digital hardware. It was a mathematical model the could reconstruct frequencies and amplitudes of an information signal out of a complicated distorted signal.
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- Today it is a single chip used in high-speed wireless networks.
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- Astronomers tackled the problem of identifying the elements that were in the Sun. In 1983 the Opacity Project and in 1992 the Iron Project tried to identify how atoms in the layers of the Sun, and stars, interact with light trying to escape to the surface. They serendipity discovered that at certain X-ray wavelengths some atoms interact very strongly with the radiation. These resonance frequencies increase the opacity of the medium.
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- Heavy elements like gold are un reactive and nontoxic inside the human body. Hit with the right frequency a gold atom would release a floodgate of energetic particles that could kill a cancerous tumor. Gold nanoparticles became a valued form of cancer therapy. So what worked to understand the working of the Sun now works to help cure cancer.
-
- When designing the James Webb Space Telescope astronomers required precision in optics to map the topography of optical surfaces. Already, the science is being used in laser eye surgery and in contact lens fittings. That invention for space exploration is today helping 100,000,000 people who are wearing corrective lens and 4,000,000 people who have had laser eye surgeries.
-
- On the Webb Telescope this application has completed 6 of the 18 mirror segments that have passed optical testing. The Telescope plans to launch in 2018. People’s vision on the ground has already reaped the benefits and 6 years from now it could give us a new vision of outer space. Astronomy benefits society. An announcement will be made shortly, stay tuned.
-------------------------- ------------------------------------------------------------------
RSVP, please reply with a number to rate this review: #1- learned something new. #2 - Didn’t read it. #3- very interesting. #4- Send another review #___ from the index. #5- Keep em coming. #6- I forwarded copies to some friends. #7- Don‘t send me these anymore! #8- I am forwarding you some questions? Index is available with email and with requested reviews at http://jdetrick.blogspot.com/ Please send feedback, corrections, or recommended improvements to: jamesdetrick@comcast.net.
or, use: “Jim Detrick” www.facebook.com, or , www.twitter.com.
707-536-3272, Wednesday, April 11, 2012

Tuesday, April 10, 2012

Quantum Dots window to the world?

-This dot is 100,000 nanometers

--------- #1457 - Quantum Dots, a 10 nanometer window
-
- Quantum Dots are small pieces of semiconductor material, very small pieces, only 10 nanometers in diameter. Being so small brings unique properties following the rules of Quantum Mechanics.
-
- The smaller the size of the crystal the larger the band gap. The band gap is the difference in energy level between the valence band and the lowest conduction band. Energy of the right amount excites the dot to higher energy and the energy is released when the crystal returns to its resting state. Fluorescence results with the electron returns to the ground state and combines with a hole.
-
- Some examples of how Quantum Dots are being used:
-
------------------------- Capturing light energy for solar panels
------------------------- Emitting entangled photons from light emitting diodes, LEDs
------------------------- Activating neurons in a Petri Dish
------------------------- Tuning laser cavities for fast, high power fiber optics, and computer multiplexing
-
- Activating neurons is accomplished by shining a light on the Quantum Dot which generates a small electric field which opens up an ion channel in a nearby neuron, activating it. This is so much less intrusive than using electrodes to do the same thing.
-
- Studying Parkinson’s Disease may allow deep brain stimulation without opening the skull. The Quantum Dots could be put where they wanted them by tagging them to proteins that target specific neurons in the brain. UV light could release drugs just where they were needed
-
- Solar cells are having a hard time getting to 20% efficiency in today’s technology. Using Quantum Dots could allow 60% efficiency in converting sunlight to electricity.
-
- The problem with the Sun’s energy is that it covers a wide spectrum of frequencies, which is a wide spectrum of energy levels. When just the right energy hits an electron it puts it in motion to create an electric current. However higher energy photons will excite electrons to no purpose and they loose their energy as heat, infrared energy. Quantum Dots could be used to slow the cooling rate of these “hot electrons” to produce more current
-
- Using crystals of lead selenide, a semiconductor, less than 100 nanometers in size could absorb light energy in certain bandgaps or range of energies. This technique can increase the lifetime of a hot electron by 1000 times. By using electron conductors of titanium dioxide they can extract the electrons from the lead selenide nano crystals thus creating additional electric current from the hot electrons that were not being used.
-
- Once Quantum Dots are tagged to a specific protein they can be used to track the natural flow of the protein inside a living cell. Using laser light the brightly reflective nano crystals can be tracked under a microscope. This technique of optical encoding is many times better than using conventional dyes and fluorescent labels.
-
- Scientists hope to watch new drug compounds as they travel inside a cell. They could be injected into cancer cells to study growth under various conditions or therapies.
-
- Quantum Dots that are just crystals 10 nanometers in diameter are opening up windows as wide as can be in the study of physics, chemistry, biology, computers, diode lasers, transistors, and quantum computing.
-
- When you have entangled Quantum Dots you have Qubits that can secure messaging because any attempt at eavesdropping would alter the message in a detectable way. Quantum memory could solve mathematical problems so hard that a standard supercomputer couldn’t find the answer in the lifetime of the universe. Prime numbers for example used in electronic financial transactions become useless if the thief has a quantum computer.
-
- Quantum Dots are valued for displays because they emit light in a very specific Gaussian distribution. They consume very little power. They can even produce “ White LEDs”
-
- Quantum Dot photo detectors can be used in surveillance, machine vision, industrial inspection , spectroscopy, fluorescent biomedical imaging, ……. do you see how wide this window opens through a 10 nanometer dot. An announcement will be made shortly, stay tuned.
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RSVP, please reply with a number to rate this review: #1- learned something new. #2 - Didn’t read it. #3- very interesting. #4- Send another review #___ from the index. #5- Keep em coming. #6- I forwarded copies to some friends. #7- Don‘t send me these anymore! #8- I am forwarding you some questions? Index is available with email and with requested reviews at http://jdetrick.blogspot.com/ Please send feedback, corrections, or recommended improvements to: jamesdetrick@comcast.net.
or, use: “Jim Detrick” www.facebook.com, or , www.twitter.com.
707-536-3272, Tuesday, April 10, 2012

Monday, April 9, 2012

Puzzle the phonograph?

#1452 - Do you remember the old phonographs for playing music. The LP records. There were 78’s and 45’s and 33 1/3 which was the revolutions per minute. LP stood for Long Playing 33 1/3.. The diameter of the LP record was 30 centimeters. The groves started 1 centimeter in from the edge and spiraled in to 6 centimeters from the center. It could play 6 songs averaging 2.5 minutes per song on one side and the same on the other side. The record had 100 groves per centimeter. The tone arm from needle to pivot was 20 centimeters. How far does the needle move when the record is played?

Tidal Forces on the moons?

--------- #1456 Gravity‘s Tidal Forces.
-
- Gravity is nature’s weakest force. There are 4 forces in Nature and it is 10^-38 times weaker than the other nuclear force. It feels pretty strong on you but remember you are interacting with a mass of 6.6 million trillion kilotons, 6.6^10^18 tons. A small refrigerator magnet can easily pick up a paper clip with all the force of Earth’s gravity pulling against it.
-
- The force of gravity depends on the masses and their distance of separation. For two orbiting bodies like the Earth and the Moon the areas that face each other are closer to each other and feel a larger gravitational pull. The near side of the Earth bulges because o a stronger pull and the far side of the Earth bulges outward because of a weaker pull of gravity. This causes the ocean tides to be perpetually aligned with the Moon.
-
- The Moon orbits in 27.3 days and the Earth spins once every 24 hours. The tides rise and fall twice a day. The water’s friction actually slows Earth’s rotation 2.3 milliseconds per day over 100 years. This slower rotation causes us to add a leap second into our timekeeping.
-
- It is not just the tides that rise and fall. The ground an rise more that a foot as the Moon passes overhead.
-
- Our Moon is ¼ the size of the Earth but it weighs a lot less. The Moon is 1% the mass of the Earth and is 239,000 miles away. Io the inner moon of Jupiter is 20% more massive that our Moon, orbiting a planet the is 318 times more massive that the Earth. And, it orbit’s a distance of only 23,000 miles away. Consequently, Io suffers a tidal bulge reaching 100’s of feet. It causes volcanic eruptions with plumes rising 100 miles high.
-
- Europa is another moon of Jupiter. The tidal forces are much less but distortions create enough internal heating to create a 62 mile deep water ocean beneath the icy surface.
-
- The Milky Way Galaxy is 1 trillion Solar Mass. When our galaxy captures a dwarf galaxy it creates a stream of stars torn away in a tidal tail. The immense gravity on the smaller galaxy will pull it apart like it was run through a taffy puller.
-
- The Sagittarius Dwarf Galaxy merging with the Milky Way Galaxy has created a tidal stream that has a full orbit around our Galaxy. Astronomers calculable that this merger began 4 to 6 billion years ago.

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RSVP, please reply with a number to rate this review: #1- learned something new. #2 - Didn’t read it. #3- very interesting. #4- Send another review #___ from the index. #5- Keep em coming. #6- I forwarded copies to some friends. #7- Don‘t send me these anymore! #8- I am forwarding you some questions? Index is available with email and with requested reviews at http://jdetrick.blogspot.com/ Please send feedback, corrections, or recommended improvements to: jamesdetrick@comcast.net.
or, use: “Jim Detrick” www.facebook.com, or , www.twitter.com.
707-536-3272, Monday, April 9, 2012

Saturday, April 7, 2012

Our Sun has brothers and sisters?

--------- #1455 - Our Sun was born with a family of stars.
-
- Stars form from a gigantic cloud of intergalactic gas and dust. It has to be very large in order to have the gravity needed to collapse and create the pressure needed to form stars. This is never a smooth occurrence. Many disturbances and shockwaves end up producing multiple stars from the collapsing cloud. Astronomers expect that when our Sun first formed 4.6 billion years ago it formed with a cluster of a thousand other stars. Where are these stars today?
-
- Our nearest star is 4.3 lightyears away. In 4.6 billion years the other stars should still be within 300 lightyears of us. They would have nearly the exact chemical composition as our Sun. Can we find them? We should be able to identify them once we do.
-
- How do we know that our Sun formed 4,600,000,000 years ago?
-
- Meteorites from the Solar System’s early years contain decay products, isotopes of nickel-60 and iron-60. Some have been dated to be 2,600,000 years old., relatively young. These isotopes had to be created in supernovae explosions. These supernovae were likely within 0.07 lightyears distance at the time.
-
- The Sun’s present isolation and location in the Milky Way is half way out from the galaxy center, a radius of 26,000 lightyears. Our Solar System has been orbiting the Galaxy at 124 miles per second, 446,400 miles per hour. Since the Sun was born it has made 27 orbits about the center of the Galaxy.
-
- In 1960 star clusters were first discovered in the Milky Way. The thousands of stars were so dense they were at first mistaken for a single star.
-
- If the Sun did start in such a cluster of stars and if they numbered 3,500 within a diameter of 10 lightyears, then some 50 similar stars should still be located with 300 lightyears of our Sun’s orbit. Astronomers are trying to find one of these stars that have the same chemical makeup as our Sun.
-
- We know that the Sun and the Solar System were born close to the other stars because the Sun and the Earth are composed of heavy elements that could only be created in supernovae explosions of other stars.
-
- A cloud of gas starts out at 1,000,000 Solar Mass and stars to collapse due to gravity. When the gas and dust becomes most heavily concentrated one or more massive stars form. Often spinning binary stars form.
-
- When a star forms it emit’s a shockwave of ultraviolet radiation for the first time. The expanding radiation ionizes the surrounding gas in the front of the shockwave. When the shockwave reaches concentrations of gas in the cloud it causes new stars to from, like our Sun.
-
- When the ionization wave hits anew born sun the surplus gas is boiled off. the proto planetary disc is exposed to direct ultraviolet radiation. After 2,000,000 the more massive stars explode. The more massive the star the shorter its lifetime. The material in the explosion is included in the planetary forming systems, in the accretion disks of solar systems.
-
- After the most massive stars explode in the cluster gravity is reduced and the smaller stars begin to drift apart. The stars that were born in the same cluster as the Sun move away from each other at a few miles per second. Today, after 4,000,000,000 years and 27 orbits around the Milky Way these stars are tens of thousands of lightyears apart.
-
- Although they may be up to 1,000 lightyears away these stars should still be following the same path around the Milky way. Also, they should have the same composition of element as the Sun. Astronomers are confident they will be able to find some of these star that were born with our Sun. Our Sun’s way off brothers and sisters may have planets just like ours. ( See Review #1456 “ Our First Alien Encounter” ) An announcement will be made shortly, stay tuned.
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RSVP, please reply with a number to rate this review: #1- learned something new. #2 - Didn’t read it. #3- very interesting. #4- Send another review #___ from the index. #5- Keep em coming. #6- I forwarded copies to some friends. #7- Don‘t send me these anymore! #8- I am forwarding you some questions? Index is available with email and with requested reviews at http://jdetrick.blogspot.com/ Please send feedback, corrections, or recommended improvements to: jamesdetrick@comcast.net.
or, use: “Jim Detrick” www.facebook.com, or , www.twitter.com.
707-536-3272, Saturday, April 7, 2012

Special Full Moon on May 7th

--------- #1450 Full Moon on Delaney’s and Doug’s birthdays.
-
- Delaney’s birthday is April 7 and there is a Full Moon. One month later on Doug’s birthday, May 7, a spectacular event will occur in astronomy. This Full Moon will be the largest and the closest and will not happen again until 2014.
-
- On May 7 the Moon will be only 221,802 miles away. As the Full Moon leaves Delaney’s birthday and approaches Doug’s birthday, May 1^st it will pass just south of Mars. On May 4^th it passes just south of Saturn. Be sure to put your binoculars on Saturn’s moon and our Moon to get the full effect. On May 9^th you won’t see it but the Moon passes just south of Pluto. On May 7^th we have the Full Moon, but, actually it is only a Half Moon.
-
- Amazingly the back half of the Moon that we never get to see is totally different then the half that we do see. The Moon is in a synchronous orbit with the Earth. It rotates exactly once during each orbit of 27.55 days keeping the same face towards us all the time.
-
- On the backside of the Moon virtually all the smooth dark “ seas” are absent. All the features seem to be created differently. (See Review #1291 to learn what ma have caused this. It involves a second moon that smashed into our Moon at a slow speed.) All the features on the back side have Russian names. They got there first so took the opportunity to name every thing they saw. I am not sure if these names are going to show up in American textbooks. We‘ll see.
-
- Hidden in the shadows of features on the Moon is as much as 1 to 2 % water frost. This is an amazing and an unexpected discovery. When American astronauts got there they left 4 seismometers on the lunar surface. From these another surprise is that when struck by an meteorite or a discarded rocket stage the Moon rings like a bell. And, the ringing lasts for hours. This must mean that the Moon’s interior is far different than Earth’s.
-
- The Moon is still cooling and shallow moonquakes are still occurring within 125 miles below the surface. The largest moonquake recorded was 5.9 on the Richter scale.
-
- The Moon’s orbit is an oval path not a circle. It looks more like daisy peddles traced out in the sky, or an oval hula hoop that never returns to the same starting place in space. Also the Moon does not orbit the equator. Instead it follows the path of the Sun through the sky. Following the ecliptic the Moon spends 2 or 3 nights per month in each Zodiac Constellation. On April 7 it is in Virgo. On May 7 it is in Scorpio
-
- The Full Moon is nearly a perfect circle. It is out of round by only 4 miles. The Full Moon appears very bright in the night sky, but, it is really 400,000 times dimmer than the Sun. The Moon reflects 12% of the sunlight. Amazing as it may seem this is enough for a Full Moon to raise the temperature on Earth by 0.04 degrees Fahrenheit from its reflected sunlight. Studies have determined that the nights of the Full Moon are cloudier than other nights. There may even be a small correlation between Full Moon’s and earthquakes. The Earth will flex 9 inches when the Moon is closest to the Earth and lined up with the Sun on the opposite side. That means that May 7^th will see some extreme tides but hopefully no shaking, except the party music.
-
- The pull of the Moon on Earth is slowing the Earth’s rotation down 0.001 seconds per 100 years. No need to reset your watch. The lost energy due to these tidal interactions is slowly spiraling the Moon’s orbit away from us. But, only 1.5 inches per year. ( See review #1243 to learn how the Moon was formed 4,500,000,000 years ago.)

Friday, April 6, 2012

Full Moons have a lot to say?

Wednesday, April 4, 2012

Why astronomers believe in Blackholes?

--------- #1441 - Evidence to believe in Blackholes
-

- Attachments : Artist Rendering
-
- Astronomer’s are positive Blackholes do exist. Although no one has ever seen one. There is evidence that a massive star has collapsed into a Blackhole. And, that the center of galaxies contain massive Blackholes. There is a 4,000,000 Solar Mass Blackhole in the center of the Milky Way Galaxy.
-
- The above describes the 2 types of Blackholes:
--------------------- Stellar Blackholes that are created by a massive star supernova leaving a mass remnant of 3 to 10 Solar Mass. If it is less than 3 Solar Mass the remnant remains a Neutron Star, a White Dwarf.
-
-------------------- Super massive Blackholes at the center of galaxies are millions to billions Solar Mass. They were around shortly after the Big Bang and when stars and galaxies first formed.
-
- Blackholes are regions of space in which the gravity is so great nothing escapes, not even electromagnetic radiation that could be used to detect its existence. So, they can not be “seen”. Astronomers must use the gravity to detect the Blackhole as it’s gravity effects other objects.
-
- X-ray detectors in the 1960’s were the first to detect binary stars in which one star heats material to millions of degrees due to friction of an in falling material in their accretion disks. The super heated atoms emit X-rays. The Blackhole is invisible until the gas and material from the companion star falls into it. Then, the accretion disk lights up in X-rays.
-
- Astronomers collect data from the visible stars in order to understand the behavior of the invisible star which is likely a Blackhole. The orbit of the visible star can be calculated by measuring the redshift as the star moves away from us and the blue shift in the light spectrum as the star moves towards us. The orbit velocity and the radius measured with this data allows the astronomer to calculate the mass of the object at the center of the orbit. This is no different then the method to calculate the mass of the Sun by measuring the velocity and orbits of the planets.
-
- If the mass is less than 3 Solar Mass the invisible object is a Neutron Star. If the mass is more than 3 Solar Mass the object is a Blackhole.
-
- To date astronomers have found 20 Stellar Blackholes. Cygnus X-1 is an X-ray binary. The Hot Blue Giant star HDE226868 orbits at 43 miles per second, ( 155,000 miles per hour), completing its orbit in 5.6 days. The invisible companion star was calculate to be 15 Solar Mass. The Blue giant star is 19 Solar mass. The invisible star by deduction must by a Blackhole.
-
- A super massive Blackhole exist at the center of our Milky Way Galaxy. For 15 years astronomers have tracked dozens of stars orbiting the center of our Galaxy. The invisible mass at the center of these orbiting stars is calculate to be 4,000,000 Solar mass within a region about the diameter of our Solar System. Mass and volume allow the calculation of density. Once density is defined you can know if you have identified a Blackhole.
-
- During these observations in 2003 astronomers saw an infrared flash at the center that lasted for 30 minutes. The infrared emissions were created by material heating up as it fell into the Event Horizon and disappeared into the Blackhole. Our Galaxy Blackhole is relatively quiet and in falling material is not often seen.
-
- Astronomers have similarly discovered Blackholes in other galaxies:
-
---------------- M87 in the Virgo Cluster is 50 million light years away. Mass is calculated to be 6,600,000,000 Solar Mass. This is over 1,000 times bigger than the milky Way’s Blackhole.
-
--------------- NGC4889 and NGC 3842 are each 10,000,000,000 Solar Mass at the center.
-
--------------- M106 - NGC4258 has a mass of 30,000,000 Solar Mass. This mass was discovered identifying “water masers” that emit specific frequencies of light.
-
------------- M31, M87, M81, NGC2273 all emitting high speed jets.
-
- Quasars are the 4^th reason astronomers believe Blackholes exist. Quasars are extremely luminous cores of distant galaxies. Early evolution produced super massive Blackholes at the center of galaxies whose gravity was so strong it distorted space-time twisting the magnetic fields. The magnetic field lines funneled radiation into high-speed jets perpendicular to the galaxy’s disk.
-
- Jets produce radio to X-ray to Gamma Ray radiation moving at 90% the speed of light and slamming into the interstellar medium which produces further electromagnetic emissions. Closest to the Blackhole X-ray emission came from the base of the jets. Further out the jets produced radio emissions. X-rays were also produced as the material was spiraling into and past the Event Horizon. Once past the Event Horizon the radiation stops.
-
- Are there medium sized Blackhole? Stellar Blackholes are 3 to 10 Solar Mass. Galactic Blackholes are 4 million to 10,000 million Solar Mass. What about in between?
-
- Quasars tell us that Blackholes first formed when the Universe was 770,000,000 years old. Calculations tell us that the maximum rate Blackholes can double their mass is in 50,000,000 years. We would expect to be able to find a continuous range of Blackholes from 100 to 100,000 Solar Mass because the growth can be cut off at any stage. Hot gas traveling at millions of miles per hour is propelled outward from the Blackhole’s center. The gas extends out to 15 lightyears distance.
-
- When the Blackhole’s mass reaches 1/1000^th the mass of the galactic bulge this leaf blower effect pushes the gas out from the center and prevents the Blackhole from growing any bigger. That would stop the growth. Only 11 candidates have been found in the middle range of 200,000 to 2,000,000 Solar Mass.
-
- Astronomers hope that the newer telescopes under development that have a resolution of 10 micro arc seconds will allow them to witness a Blackhole’s Event Horizon. The best candidate is M87. Astronomers hope to see the accretion disk of material light up as it is swallowed by the immense gravity of this Blackhole. A first! An announcement will be made shortly, stay tuned.
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RSVP, please reply with a number to rate this review: #1- learned something new. #2 - Didn’t read it. #3- very interesting. #4- Send another review #___ from the index. #5- Keep em coming. #6- I forwarded copies to some friends. #7- Don‘t send me these anymore! #8- I am forwarding you some questions? Index is available with email and with requested reviews at http://jdetrick.blogspot.com/ Please send feedback, corrections, or recommended improvements to: jamesdetrick@comcast.net.
or, use: “Jim Detrick” www.facebook.com, or , www.twitter.com.
707-536-3272, Wednesday, April 4, 2012

Tuesday, April 3, 2012

Global Warming in 2006 and today?

--------- #1448 Global Warming in 2006 and today?
-
- After 5 years, 2001 to 2006, environmentalists and lawmakers had concluded “ Global Warming” is real and human activity is causing it. Mainly CO2 emissions from burning fossil fuels create a greenhouse gas that is steadily warming the planet..
-
- Greenland ice sheets have doubled their rate of slide. By 2100 the sea levels will rise by 20 feet.
-
- CO2 is a few hundred parts per million in the atmosphere. As a greenhouse gas CO2 lets sunlight in but prevents infrared from the warming Earth from radiating back out. The CO2 reflects heat back to the ground keeping it trapped in the atmosphere warming the entire globe.
-
- During the last ice age ( see Review # 1436 for information ) CO2 was 180 parts per million. In the modern era the CO2 level was 200 parts per million. In 2006 it was 381 parts per million. 19 of the 20 hottest years on record occurred in the last 20 years. 2005 was the hottest year in the century.
-
- In Greenland 53 cubic miles of ice had melted into the sea. 10 years earlier it was 22 cubic miles per year. Estimates were that this process would raise seal levels 23 feet. The Antarctic holds enough ice to raise the sea levels to by 215 feet.
-
- When the white snow and ice shrinks the reflection of sunlight is reduced, more radiation is absorbed, more ice melts. It becomes a positive feedback loop.
-
- The last ice age was 8,000 years ago. Much of the permafrost still exists. As it melts, decomposes, it releases more CO2 and methane gas. Again, we create another positive feedback loop. Permafrost contains 800 gigatons of carbon. Compare that to human carbon output of 7 gigatons per year.
-
- The Gulf Stream in the Atlantic Ocean brings warm water up from the tropics keeping Europe’s climate relatively mild. Warm water is lighter than cold water and floats to the surface. When the Gulf Stream reaches Europe it release heat and sinks to the bottom to return to the tropics in deep ocean currents. The water gets reheated and returns. However, fresh water from the melted glaciers is lighter than the salt water. This excessive concentration of fresh water enters the northern waters and blocks the gulf Stream cycle.
-
- Global warming is bringing Spring arrival earlier. This in turn melts the snow earlier. Washington, Oregon, and California are seeing droughts because the snow pack is gone too early in the season. Global warming is causing more droughts. More wild fires are occurring as a result. That too puts more carbon into the atmosphere.
-
- Animals go if the forests go.
-
- 141 nations have ratified the Kyoto Treaty designed to reduce CO2 emission in each nation. The US has 5% of the population but produces 25% of the CO2 emissions The US has not ratified the Kyoto Treaty. The Bush administration would remain intransigent , refusing to sign.
-
- Some 200 cities in the US have agreed to meet the Kyoto Treaty guidelines on their own. 9 states have agreed to a cap and trade program to reduce CO2 emissions. California passed the toughest automobile emissions law in the nation in 2005.
-
- Environmentalists predict 450 parts per million CO2 levels. Mercury and Venus and Mars have all died as hospitable planets. The Global Warming activists believe Earth will be next due to these CO2 emissions.
-
------------------- Nations production of CO2 emissions in thousand tons:
-
---------------------- US ------------------- 1,580,175
---------------------- China ---------------- 1,131,175
---------------------- India ------------------- 347,577
---------------------- Canada ----------------- 154,392
---------------------- Australia ---------------- 96,657
---------------------- Egypt -------------------- 38,118
-
- 2006 companies in the US as top polluters:
-
---------------------------------- 1 ---------------- DuPont
---------------------------------- 2 ---------------- US Steel
---------------------------------- 3 ---------------- Conoco Phillips
---------------------------------- 4 ---------------- GE
---------------------------------- 5 ---------------- Eastman Kodak
---------------------------------- 6 ---------------- Exxon
---------------------------------- 7 ---------------- Ford
-
---------------------------------- 96 ---------------- Kimberly-Clark
---------------------------------- 97---------------- Harley-Davidson
-
---------------------------------- 100 ---------------- Illinois Tool Works
-
-------------------------- 2006 cities with the most pollution:
-
---------------------------------- 1 ---------------- Bakersfield, CA
---------------------------------- 2 ---------------- LA, Long Beach
---------------------------------- 3 ---------------- Visalia, CA
---------------------------------- 4 ---------------- Fresno, CA
---------------------------------- 5 ---------------- Merced, CA
---------------------------------- 6 ---------------- Houston, Texas
---------------------------------- 7 ---------------- Sacramento, CA
---------------------------------- 8 ----------------- Dallas, Texas
---------------------------------- 9------------------ New York
---------------------------------- 10 ---------------- Philadelphia
-
- Nations with the most oil production in millions of barrels per day:
-
---------------------------------- 1 ---------------- Saudi Arabia ------------ 10.37
---------------------------------- 2 ---------------- Russia------------------------ 9.27
---------------------------------- 3 ---------------- US---------------------------- 8.69
---------------------------------- 4 ---------------- India-------------------------- 4.09
---------------------------------- 5 ---------------- Mexico----------------------- 3.83
---------------------------------- 6 ---------------- China------------------------- 3.62
-
- Nations as the top oil consumers in millions of barrels per day:
-
---------------------------------- 1 ---------------- US ----------------------- 20.5
---------------------------------- 2 ---------------- Chin------------------------ 6.5
---------------------------------- 3 ---------------- Japan----------------------- 5.4
---------------------------------- 4 ---------------- Germany------------------- 2.6
---------------------------------- 5 ---------------- Russia---------------------- 2.6
---------------------------------- 6 ---------------- India------------------------ 2.3
-
- That was 2006. It would be interesting to see the same measurements made for 2012. Needs more research. How would the data compare? An announcement will be made shortly, stay tuned.
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RSVP, please reply with a number to rate this review: #1- learned something new. #2 - Didn’t read it. #3- very interesting. #4- Send another review #___ from the index. #5- Keep em coming. #6- I forwarded copies to some friends. #7- Don‘t send me these anymore! #8- I am forwarding you some questions? Index is available with email and with requested reviews at http://jdetrick.blogspot.com/ Please send feedback, corrections, or recommended improvements to: jamesdetrick@comcast.net.
or, use: “Jim Detrick” www.facebook.com, or , www.twitter.com.
707-536-3272, Tuesday, April 3, 2012

Monday, April 2, 2012

How the Greeks measured the circumference of Earth?

--------- #1449 Eratosthenes measures the Earth.
-
-Eratosthenes was a Greek scholar in the 3^rd century B.C. He knew the Earth was a sphere even 1,700 years before Columbus. Eratosthenes set about to determine how bid the Earth was.
-
- He lived in the town of Syene, Egypt. today this town is know as Aswan. He noticed that on the Summer Solstice, June 21, the longest day of the year that the Sun was directly overhead. the sunlight would shine to the bottom of a deep well in the center of the town of Syene.
- Eratosthenes traveled to the town of Alexander which was 50 days by camel. When it was the same time on June 21st, the Sun was not directly overhead because he was farther north. He took is 10 foot staff and noted its shadow as 16 inches long on the ground.
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- He knew that an average days ride by camel would cover 10.5 miles. The entire trip took 50 days.
-
- He had enough information to calculate the circumference of the Earth.
-
- Can you get the answer he got?
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RSVP, please reply with a number to rate this review: #1- learned something new. #2 - Didn’t read it. #3- very interesting. #4- Send another review #___ from the index. #5- Keep em coming. #6- I forwarded copies to some friends. #7- Don‘t send me these anymore! #8- I am forwarding you some questions? Index is available with email and with requested reviews at http://jdetrick.blogspot.com/ Please send feedback, corrections, or recommended improvements to: jamesdetrick@comcast.net.
or, use: “Jim Detrick” www.facebook.com, or , www.twitter.com.
707-536-3272, Monday, April 2, 2012

Sunday, April 1, 2012

Puzzle for students to learn math?

--------- #1447 A Roman Circle decimates the students.

-
- The Roman army had a way to punish cowardice or mutiny among its soldiers. Every 10^th soldier in the group of mutineers was selected by lot to be executed. This is where the word “ decimated” comes from. The punishment dates back to 370 A.D. 1000 mutineers were arranged in a circle and tied to posts. The soldier at post #1 was shot and then every other soldier around the circle was executed. One by one. The last one executed i s #999. #1000 soldier survives. The next living soldier is at post #2. He is executed and every other soldier around the circle again. The last living soldier is released to warn the other soldiers not to be cowards.
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- At what post should you stand in the circle of death in order to survive?
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- Let’s make the problem less violent and a lot easier. Put a classroom of kids in a circle sitting in their chairs facing the center of the circle. The chairs are numbered 1 through 30. The teacher gets behind chair #1 and asks that student to stand up behind the #1 chair. Now the teacher instructs every other student around the circle to stand. After once around the circle continue with every other student until only one remains seated. Which student remains seated in their chair?
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707-536-3272, Sunday, April 1, 2012

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